Iowa @ Michigan preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 1, 2019 ) Michigan 59, Iowa 74

No. 3 seed Michigan begins its quest for its third straight Big Ten Tournament championship when it battles No. 6 Iowa in the quarterfinals on Friday in Chicago. The Wolverines won four games in four days despite arriving late as their charter flight skidded off the runway in 2017 before defending their title last year in New York City and hope to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding by becoming the first Big Ten team to achieve a three-peat in the conference tourney.

"The last couple of years we've had a great edge about us going into this tournament," Michigan coach John Beilein told reporters. "We've won a few in a row now and wouldn't that be something to win another one in three days." Iowa got off to a hot start and never looked back as it routed No. 11 seed Illinois 83-62 to post its first Thursday win in the tournament in six years. The Hawkeyes had lost their previous four games to fall out of the national rankings, but came out firing on all cylinders as they knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half before finishing 12-of-23 from beyond the arc, and hope to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2006. "We didn't come here to just play one game as we want to be here for a while," Iowa forward Nicholas Baer told reporters. "We still have a lot more to accomplish."

TV: 9:25 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT MICHIGAN (26-5): Ignas Brazdeikis was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after leading the team in scoring at 15 points per game to become the first Michigan player to win the award since Trey Burke in 2012. Junior point guard Zavier Simpson earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors along with Brazdeikis after averaging 9.1 points and 6.3 assists this season while also being named to the All-Defensive Team. Charles Matthews seems poised to play after missing the past three games as he practiced fully for the first time since suffering a sprained right ankle in the 77-70 loss to Michigan State on Feb. 24.

ABOUT IOWA (22-10): Baer came off the bench to knock down five 3-pointers en route to a team-high 17 points as the Hawkeyes set a new program record for most 3-point field goals in a Big Ten Tournament game. Joe Wieskamp scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds in the win against Illinois. Tyler Cook filled up the stat sheet as he contributed 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and two blocks while Ryan Kriener added 11 points in a reserve role as the Hawkeyes finished with 25 helpers against the Fighting Illini.

TIP-INS

1. Michigan has won eight straight Big Ten Tournament games.

2. Simpson needs 19 assists to become the 10th player in program history to reach 400 for his career.

3. Iowa G Jordan Bohannon is three 3-pointers shy of matching the school record held by Jeff Horner (2003-06)

PREDICTION: Iowa 76, Michigan 73